Innovative Projects Realized

High resolution wind turbine power output forecasting

Wind turbine generator power output and consumer electricity demand vary independently from one another. This presents a difficult situation for electricity grid managers as they attempt to exactly match demand using wind turbines and conventional generators (e.g. hydro, fossil fuels). Accurate forecasting of wind turbine generator power enhances management of the electricity grid, allowing for more wind turbine generating capacity while maintaining grid stability. This research will calibrate, perform sensitivity analysis, and validate the newest high resolution wind power forecasting model for Atlantic Canada. Resolution of space and time have increased from 10 km and 60 minutes, representing an entire wind farm with one forecast point, to 0.1 km and 5 minutes, representing a single wind turbine. Calibration will be completed by forecasting a variety of wind turbine types and farms and comparing with actual performance data. Sensitivity analysis will compare the incremental gains in forecast accuracy due to increasing resolution. Validation will insure accurate forecasting for a variety of conditions, topographies, and wind farm layout. The final research results will be used enhance and justify the new forecast model as it is productized and sold to wind farm operators, utilities, and grid operators.

Mavi Mi1 Hydrokinetic Turbine Power Converter & Controller Design Review & Field Test

Mavi Innovations is pursuing a prototype demonstration of its 20kW hydrokinetic turbine for generating electricity from river and tidal currents in Fall 2013. Demonstration of this new system includes the development of a control system to govern turbine operation, and of the power electronics to manage generated power and provide electricity to the grid. The Mitacs intern will assist with the design and specification of the commercial off-the-shelf power electronics, and of the control method. The system will be modeled using the MATLAB SIMULINK dynamic modeling software package. The control method will be implemented on a microcontroller to control the speed of the turbine, allowing the collection of turbine performance data such as efficiency and power output. Field test data will be used to validate the SIMULINK model and investigate optimal power converters and control methodologies. The expected outcome of this project will be validated test data from the demonstrated turbine system that can be used to refine the design of the power electronics and controller, and identify potential improvements for power converter selection and controller design.

Carbon-Nanotube Composite for Power Transmission Line & Inductor

The focus of this research project is possibilities of increasing the capacity of overhead power transmission conductors using Carbon Nanotubes (CNT). Current constraints to existing transmission conductors include: (i) high resistivity of the reinforcing steel strands; (ii) energy loss in the form of heat generated from this inefficiency; and (iii) and thermal expansion and increases the sag and length of the conductor. The unique properties of CNTs have generated much interest in their potential application to transmission conductors in the form of CNT-reinforced aluminum. A critical step in using CNTs within a new conductor is to develop a fabrication process that successfully transfers the properties of CNT to the matrix material of aluminum. A scrolling fabrication process has been developed, which may solve these challenges. Different strands of Al-CNT composite wires with different CNT concentrations will be fabricated. The effects of CNT concentration on the rated ampacity (i.e. the maximum current carrying capacity of the conductor before deterioration) will be examined.

Can a neuromuscular training insole alter low back muscular and postural responses?

Back posture and muscle activation are effected by the alignment and behaviour of jointsbelow: the hip, knee, ankle, and foot. Neuromuscular training insoles use disruptive technology to change how the feet respond to interactions with the ground. If such an insole can improve the foot's ability to sense orientation/position and the required stabilization for normal and effective gait, it may be able to improve the performance of joints in the chain above. The proposed research will quantify activation in key muscles in the back, abdomen, pelvis, and legs (using surface electromyography), force plates, and three-dimensional motion profiles during standing, walking, and simulated work tasks in men and women. Measures will be taken before and after eight weeks of insole use. This research is expected to be very valuable to our partner in terms of product validation, research-based re-designs, and in the development of new products.

Improving the Efficiency in Customer Interactions and Investment Selection

The purpose of this research is to develop a solution that uses Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Analytics to Improving the Efficiency in Customer Interactions and Investment Selection.

Research and Implementation of Haptics Device Integration With a DynamicsSimulation Engine

Virtual environments represented by multibody system models play an important role in many applications. Adding the possibility of the user directly interacting with such environments via physical touch using haptics can significantly enhance the usability and range of application of simulated environments. In this project we particularly target two main objectives: (1) the multirate-simulation and haptics challenge to incorporate realistic kinesthetic force feedback in multibody dynamics simulation of geometrically complex mechanical systems, and (2) application to milling and drilling bone in spinal surgery simulation. The partner organization, CMLabs will greatly benefit from this project. The proposed work is of direct relevance to their current work, and will also open up possibilities to broaden the applications of CMLabs’ software platform Vortex. This proposal represents the third stage of the internship.

Biochar Carbon Protocol Development

Design of Radio Frequency Identification tags based upon Graphene interconnections

Long checkout lines at the grocery stores and wholesales are one of the biggest complaints about the shopping experience. Soon these lines could disappear when te ubiquitous universal product code barcode is replaced by smart labels, also called radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. RFID tags are intelligent barcodes that can talk to a networked system to track every product that you put in your shopping cart. In this project, Graphene, the wonder material of the century, will be integrated into RFID devices to increase its reliability and reduce its product cost.

Management of Context for Smartphone-based Marketing for Brick & Mortar Retailers

Smartphones are not only incredibly powerful computing devices, but also sophisticated sensor platforms. Leveraging sensed user context, such as location, to provide targeted advertising has been discussed as a potential application of ubiquitous sensing in the literature, and is beginning to appear in industrial applications. In this proposal we describe the innovations necessary to realize context-sensitive advertising in a traditional brick and mortar store, where user-specific offers are pulled from a server when the phone determines that the user is likely about to shop at a particular store. This innovation will require research and development in ubiquitous systems, sensor data analysis and human computer interaction. The final product will be an innovative and competitive system that will provide College Mobile with an ongoing competitive advantage in supplying brick and mortar companies with user-specific smartphone advertising solutions. Investigating this challenging problem will advance user modeling and small-screen interaction research.

Optimization of Graphical User Interface for the Digital Pathology Workstation

The workflow of pathologists will soon be revolutionized with the introduction of digital pathology allowing pathologists to view tissue samples as a digital image on a computer workstation. Such a conversion from traditional microscopy will bring many benefits to the pathologist’s workflow aiming to boost significant efficiency as well as ergonomic benefits. However, much work needs to be done to bring such a technology to the clinical setting in the hospital. One significant problem is gaining the acceptance of pathologists to adopting new technology. A core challenge to the problem is the effective design of a user interface to optimize the digital pathology workflow. The work proposed for the current research project aims to develop an intuitive user interface that will be readily accepted by pathologists. This work will be done to help augment the revolutionary digital pathology scanners at Huron Technologies, giving a competitive advantage over competitors to making the transition and gaining acceptance of such technology in the clinical setting in hospitals.

Simple proxies for risk analysis and natural hazard estimation

This research is aimed at better characterizing the exposure associated with three particular natural hazards – earthquake, flood and wind. The work represents an unprecedented collaboration between three leaders in the field of natural hazards at Western University and the insurance industry through the efforts of individual interns and the associated projects aimed at evaluating risk and the resulting exposure from a practical and relatively simplified perspective. The Property and Casualty Insurance Compensation Corporation (ICLR), in cooperation with member insurers, will provide industrial support and training to three interns in the applied field of insurance risk assessment. The goal of the associated research program is to develop simple proxies for exposure based upon the most important factors associated with each hazard – earthquake, flood and wind. These proxies will be evaluated for various population densities, infrastructure properties and governmental policies. The HQP involved in the project will spend time with ICLR, where they will interact with Canadian insurance providers, and Montpelier Re in order to better understand the appropriate application of the risk and exposure assessments that they are providing for the assessment of hazard and risk in urban and suburban areas.

Regulating Geothermal Energy in Alberta

In Alberta geothermal resources exist that companies want to exploit for power and direct heat.Currently, there is no licensing and permitting process that allows these companies to exploit the existing geothermal resources. The aim of this project is to explore means through which legislative amendments or new legislation could facilitate and enable a licensing/permitting the process (Thus, allowing the industry to develop). Prior to making any conclusions about suggested legislative changes the aim is to first look at the overall context existing in Alberta i.e. where the resource is, the quality of the resource and the technology that can be used to make use of the resource.